Visiting the MoMA with Hafeez

Hafeez and I met at the MoMA today, in order to spend an afternoon soaking up some culture. Oh, and getting hot chocolate at the MoMA café on the fifth floor — one of the best reasons to visit the MoMA, since right now, there are not any super amazing exhibits. But regardless, it was Hafeez's first visit, so we dutifully checked out each floor, and it was really quite enjoyable. I can't get enough of Sol LeWitt, so it was a nice surprise to see an exhibit of one of his giant wall paintings:

The current Sol LeWitt exhibit: Wall Drawing #260 (1975). The work's subtitle serves to describe the installation: "on black walls, all two-part combinations of white arcs from corners and sides, and white straight, not-straight, and broken lines."

Tea towels I would like:

The above tea towel set by Maija and Kristina Isola features the Metsanvaki tree pattern on one towel and a checkerboard pattern on the other.
This tea towel set features new designs by Maija Louekari. On one towel, there is a scene of cheerful birds, on the other, a lively polka-dot pattern.

My birthday is in June...it's never too early to plan ahead.

A Marimekko Bus

Originally uploaded by kindofindie

I was in a cab this afternoon riding down 11th Avenue and spotted a Marimekko bus in front of the Jacob Javitt's center. Of course, I did not have my camera on me, and was too slow to use my camera phone to snap a picture. When I looked on Flickr, there was only two pictures of Marimekko buses, and no one had captured a shot of the one on 11th Avenue, sadly.

Year of the Ox

Four girls rehearse for a show celebrating the Spring Festival in Pengzhou, China.

This will probably the first year in almost a decade that I will not be doing anything special for Chinese New Year. Which is quite a sad realization for me. For while I sometimes acted like I was annoyed about having to get together with family, as we are all wont to do, I always secretly enjoyed celebrating with my extended family. The predictability of the holiday meal was comforting — the fish, the noodles, the green hairy vegetable, et al. Oh and the scramble for fresh singles and five dollar bills the weekend before, because we never planned ahead. And I loved seeing my nieces in their red outfits — sometimes this meant a red sweatshirt with the GAP stitched across in white felt-y letters. Other times, they wore more traditional outfits. Or at least fancy ponytail holders that involved lots of red tulle, netting and bows.

Oddly enough, I did wear a burgundy red dress to work today, but that was not on purpose, unfortunately. Or maybe I knew unconsciously, and it did not surface to my conscious mind until just now. Whatever the case may be, in recognition of the year of the ox, I am going to make a whole fish (魚) tonight for dinner. And if I am feeling terrifically inspired, maybe I will make longevity noodles as well. And, or, dumplings. The green hairy vegetable that is very traditional for New Year dinner is probably going to have to be replaced by green beans, because that is the only green vegetable in my crisper right now, other than Brussel sprouts, which are just not at all Chinese New Year-worthy in anyway. And I am not even sure how to cook the hairy vegetable. To be honest, I am not sure I love the texture, but after 10 years of it, I had grown to accept the hairball-ness of it and ate it in celebration of the new year without questioning it.

A big fish in a small pond

My friend Lani's husband, Chris, caught a giant 9-lb fish on Saturday, ice fishing somewhere near Buffalo, New York (to generalize). He sent me this picture, and I loved it. Look at that huge little mouth on the fish. Just to let you know, after Chris took the picture, he threw the fish back into the water.

I want Pro-caulk

Lately, I have found myself watching a great deal of HGTV and other home DIY programs on television, during random hours of the night. Of all of the infomercials that I have seen, the one for Pro-caulk really has piqued my interest. To the point, that I am seriously considering ordering my very own Pro-caulk, because it is only $19.95! Never mind that I have absolutely NO use for it, and would have really found it handy two years ago when I caulked the subway tiles that my mom and I installed in the kitchen. But now, I have nothing to caulk, really. But the Pro-caulk infomerical makes caulking look so effortlessly easy, that it makes me want to just go out and caulk something. 

Daffodils in January!

Nothing says spring is almost here!, like daffodils. Too bad its maybe only 15ºF outside and that I am wearing two pairs of pants and wooly socks to stay warm.

Volcanos in the middle of nowhere

See our crew in the bottom left corner? I was lagging behind because I had to pee behind a rock.

The bathroom truck that was driven out from Santiago — so I no longer had to pee behind rocks.

The generators for powering everyone's Mac laptops in the middle of the desert.

Today we were on location at a volcano about 40 minutes from San Pedro. The location itself is only at maybe 3,000 meters, but for whatever reason, we all felt more problems with the altitude sickness than when we were at El Tatio yesterday, and that was at 4,000+ meters. Consequently, we all were incredibly tired, and the walk from the truck where we were sitting when the sun went behind the clouds, to the bathroom truck, seemed like walking to California. To stave off the extreme lethargy and dizziness, everyone was chewing coca leaves. However, I opted for the caffeinated aspirin, though, as I was too freaked out to chew coca leaves. Despite understanding that you only get a tiny tiny amount of cocaine from the leaves, it still made me slightly uncomfortable. 

Altitude sickness aside, on the way to the volcano this morning, we came upon a 4x4 truck that had completely flipped over and the entire front of the truck was crumpled in. One of the guys had broken his knees, and another had a fracture of his wrist where the bone was poking through the skin. We knew something was wrong when a few meters back we had seen two guys on the side of the road, walking with their cell phone out, trying to get a signal. Which is pretty impossible in that part of the mountains, so you would only do that if you were desperate to make a call. They apparently were trying to call the police to tell them about the accident. Our production crew happened to arrive only a few minutes after the accident, and pulled all of the guys out of the car, and had them laid on the side of the road. Thankfully, I missed seeing the broken wrist guy, as it was apparently, very gross. But even seeing the broken knee cap guy who was almost in tears made me feel so sad, then I felt incredibly grateful that we have not experienced any problems on the trip ourselves, thus far. Especially considering that the nearest hospital is two and half hours away in Calama.

In the middle of Atacama Desert

On the way back to San Pedro, Leo (one of the producers from Chile), stopped to take my picture with the Llamas.

Plants straight out of a Dr. Suess story

white + silver + Japanese type = my ideal package

Found these batteries for Askul, designed by Stockholm Design Lab today on Lovely Package. I am not sure what it is about Swedish design, but its like the entire country's design community got a memo stating that everything must be in white packaging, with silver type, set in a sans serif face, ideally Swiss 721, Akzidenz Grotesk, or Helvetica. Of course, I personally love this aesthetic, but it does make me wonder what clients do if they want something more cute and quaint. And does it get a little banal to have EVERYTHING look so minimal, ALL OF THE TIME? I mean, do Swedes even do quaint? Maybe they just add some little mushrooms and gnomes, and a strawberry or two, and then suddenly, its cute and retro in a Ronia the Robber's Daughter, sort of way. 

Email from Tim: Eat your blueberries

Hello everyone. My advice for Week One of 2009 is to eat blueberries.

Any way you buy them - fresh, frozen or dried - blueberries are packed with nutritional power. If you need reasons beside taste to snack on blueberries, keep these nutrition facts in mind. Blueberries:

1. Provide antioxidants. Anthocyanins, the pigments that make blueberries blue, are potent antioxidants: A half cup of blueberries provides the antioxidant power of five servings of peas, carrots, apples, squash or broccoli.
2. Are a healthy, low glycemic-index carbohydrate, an especially good choice for diabetics.
3. Are a source of vitamin C, important for a healthy immune system.
4. Help meet your need for daily fiber - two grams per one-half cup serving.
5. Have shown promise in addressing the effects of aging: animal studies have demonstrated improved motor skills and a reversal of age-related short-term memory loss associated with consuming blueberries.
6. May have health benefits ranging from preventing cancer and defending against urinary tract infections to protecting the brain from stroke damage and reducing heart disease risks.

Look for organic blueberries, and toss some in a salad, on cereal, eat as a snack, or make a blueberry pie. If fresh organic blueberries are cost prohibitive, substitute with frozen or dried products - all three forms provide health-protective benefits. Keep in mind that dried blueberries are a concentrated source of sugar, so enjoy them in moderation.

Your friend,
Tim

Boulevard of broken dreams

I found this in the kitchen at work — a late holiday gift from some comp vendor or printer, rummaged through for the best flavors. Tim posted the sad sign above the chocolates, forcing whomever took one, to reflect on the fact that its barely into the new year and they have already broken one of their new year's resolutions: to not eat all of the crap that is laying around the office.

Enough ackee for at least a week

I heart little ants

Not the dead bug in question, 

but all the same, a giant bug from Jamaica.

Last night, there was a dead crunchy looking beetle lying on the floor, next to my suitcase table. This place is full of all sorts of crazy looking, and giant, bugs. For whatever reason, they delight me, instead of freaking me out, with all of their crispy shells, raspy legs and long attennae.

That being said, the dead bug, which was about an inch long, was still there this morning when I went to take my shower. But I noticed a giant swarm of the smallest ants in the world all hanging around the dead beetle, like he was a rock star. I showered, and when I came back, the ants had carted that dead, crunchy beetle off to who knows where. There was no trace of it anywhere, and there were no straggler ants either. It was impressive. That giant mob of microscopic ants lifted up that beetle carcass and high tailed it out of town.
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